Su Huaiyuan had to compete with the losers from the previous two rounds. This meant that he was going to face off against the seventeenth-ranked candidate next!
Su Yuanyuan's heart skipped a beat. Immediately, she said to the people on the terrace, "Brother Er's upcoming matches are very important. How about we squeeze to the front to cheer for him?"
Everyone naturally agreed. So the young girl led the group towards the arena.
At this moment, Su Huaiyuan had already stepped onto the arena and started to engage in a fierce fight with the candidate who had lost in the previous round.
By the time Su Yuanyuan and the others finally squeezed through the crowd and reached the edge of the arena, Su Huaiyuan's current match was almost over.
In this match, he had chosen a long sword as his weapon. The sword seemed to have a life of its own in his hands, forcing his opponent to retreat step by step. Finally, the match ended with Su Huaiyuan's sword tip pointing at his opponent's throat.
After the examiner announced the winner, Su Yuanyuan clapped vigorously and cheered for Su Huaiyuan, "Good! Well done, Brother Er!"
Hearing his younger sister's voice so close, Su Huaiyuan turned around and saw that his family and his sweetheart had all come to the edge of the arena to cheer him on. He immediately grinned, leaped off the arena in three quick steps, and said excitedly through the railing,
"Brother San, Yuanbao, Wanrong, and Miss Zhang and Miss Zhuo, why did you all squeeze to the front?"
Su Huaisheng punched him playfully and said with a smile, "Of course we're here to cheer for you, Brother Er."
Zhuo Shu was also extremely excited. "Young Master Su Er's performance just now was truly wonderful! I never thought a martial arts competition could be so interesting!"
The others nodded in agreement.
Qin Wanrong took out a handkerchief from her bosom and smiled shyly at Su Huaiyuan. At first, Su Huaiyuan didn't understand what was going on until Su Yuanyuan said, "Brother Er, come here quickly!"
Only then did Su Huaiyuan realize what was happening. He stepped forward and bent down slightly. Through the railing, Qin Wanrong gently wiped the sweat off Su Huaiyuan's forehead with the handkerchief and asked with concern, "Are you okay? Are you hungry? Do you want some water?"
Su Huaiyuan couldn't stop smiling as he answered Qin Wanrong's questions one by one. The affectionate scene made people's teeth ache.
On the main examiner's platform, Qin Hao naturally saw the interaction between the two. He was so angry that he clenched the teacup in his hand tightly. However, he also highly appreciated Su Huaiyuan's performance. This contradictory mood made his face alternate between anger and admiration, looking extremely intimidating.
"The candidates are not allowed to talk to others. This is a violation of the rules. Why don't you send someone down to stop them?" an official belonging to the Wang family's camp pointed at the examiners and said.
Cang Xuan played with the teacup in his hand and said with a half-smile, "It's just a casual chat with their family members. How can this be considered a violation? Was this rule mentioned when the rules were announced just now?"
Nowadays, every official in Shengjing City knew his relationship with the Prince Qingjun's Mansion. It was inappropriate for him to openly protect Su Huaiyuan and the others during the imperial examination. However, he was the chief supervisor of the entire imperial examination and the prime minister second only to the emperor. If he said there was no problem, then there was no problem.
Seeing that the official was rendered speechless by his words, Cang Xuan smiled again and said, "Or is Lord Zhou afraid of something?"
Everyone looked at the official in unison. The official's face turned green and then white. He could only say, "I'm just worried that they are secretly passing information and cheating."
Su Qing sneered, "Two young ladies. What do they know about martial arts moves? Lord Zhou, don't you think your words are ridiculous? Lord Qin, am I right?"
Everyone then turned their gazes to Qin Hao.
Qin Hao paused for a moment, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "Everyone should be aware of my daughter's health. I'm sure she was just saying a few words of encouragement to that young man. How could she be passing any information?"
Everyone also knew that Qin Wanrong was in poor health. So the official surnamed Zhou had nothing more to say.
However, what they didn't know was that Su Yuanyuan was actually passing a message to Su Huaiyuan at this moment.
"Brother Er, when I was taking the exam at the Imperial College, I was almost assassinated by a killer. You need to be careful of that person." The young girl smiled on the surface, but in a voice only they could hear, she said something that made Su Huaiyuan's heart skip a beat.
Su Huaisheng also smiled and said, "During my last exam, someone tried to kill me. Brother Er, be careful."
Both his younger sister and younger brother had given him a warning. The smile on Su Huaiyuan's face faded a bit, and his expression became more solemn.
Qin Wanrong was extremely intelligent. Although she couldn't hear what Su Yuanyuan and Su Huaisheng were saying, from Su Huaiyuan's expression, she knew that the next match would definitely not be that simple.
In a flash, she also took the opportunity of wiping the dust off Su Huaiyuan's palm with the handkerchief and planned to tell him about the loopholes in that person's moves.
She had just started when Su Huaiyuan tightly squeezed her hand and said, "Rongmei, don't worry. I will never lose to that person, and I will never miss this opportunity. Trust me."
Qin Wanrong stopped talking, looked deeply into his eyes, and nodded.
The examiner rang the gong. The next match was about to start. Su Huaiyuan looked at the seventeenth-ranked candidate on the other side of the arena, clenched his fists, and leaped onto the arena.
"The candidates can choose a suitable weapon to fight with." The examiner said.
The tall and thin man chose a nine-section whip. Su Huaiyuan originally wanted to choose a big knife, but when his fingers were about to touch the knife, he remembered what Su Huaisheng and Su Yuanyuan had said. He returned to the arena empty-handed and said, "In this round, I won't choose a weapon. I will fight with my bare fists."
The tall and thin man's face changed. He tightly gripped the nine-section whip in his hand. He had waited for so long for this good opportunity to fight against Su Huaiyuan. Naturally, he had a purpose. But if Su Huaiyuan fought with his bare fists, his previous plan would be difficult to implement. He had to think of another way to disqualify Su Huaiyuan from the exam.
At the order, the two people on the arena moved at the same time.
In the previous matches, the tall and thin man had used a long spear, a short sword, and a pair of hammers. But now it seemed that his most suitable weapon was the nine-section whip. The nine-section whip was as easy to handle in his hands as the long sword was in Su Huaiyuan's hands in the previous match.
Moreover, his footwork and body skills were also excellent. Just by looking at him, Su Huaiyuan knew that this person had hidden his true strength in the previous matches. With his skills, he could have easily won the previous match, but he had deliberately lost.
It was obvious that this person was coming for him.
Realizing this, Su Huaiyuan became even more vigilant and fought more cautiously.
The two people circled and tested each other on the arena for a while, always keeping a certain distance. Seeing that Su Huaiyuan still refused to step forward, the man flicked his wrist and rushed towards Su Huaiyuan with the nine-section whip.